What about Fernando Torres' first year at Chelsea ?

[Las7 951]

I'm tired of Torres, tired of talking about Torres, tired of watching Torres - he is not good enough to be our main striker right now.

I'd actually make a parallel with Anelka who in his first half a season had 2 goals; continued to struggle under Scolari and finally found his scoring boots under Hiddink as a lone forward while Drogba was injured. But still during this time Anelka managed to integrate himself with the squad, I don't think he ever really was key to us with the exception of one season. But turned out a good temorary messure. Difference was we had a much stronger and fitter Drogba back than, right now our managers Carlo and AVB seem to just trust two players to lead the line and both have been awful in the last 12 months.

This period is Torres's last chance if he is unable to start scoring regulary than surelly there won't be any more excuses, I don't think we should try to build a squad around a guy like Torres and feel that we need a right winger so we have the option of playing Sturridge up top or give Lukaku a run in the team.

If 50 million wasn't paid for Torres and we had better options or our managers had more balls, he wouldn't get into the squad right now.

To me at least it's unrealistic to expect Torres to reclaim his 2008 form, there are far too many ellements missing from his game - he would be a good striker with a team that can be build around him; but at Chelsea that would be an awful option, because of his injury record and the fact that a bit of speed is gone and he lacks that killer instinct.

If he doesn't turn things around in our upcoming games - he should be sold off in the summer while he still holds some value.

[nullabletype 987]

Personally, I don't know how anybody, be it fan or opposition, can look at our team as a whole and somehow conclude that Torres is our biggest problem. Virtually the whole squad is sucking the big one right now (by the standard that is expected by most).

Fine, he's not scoring. That is regrettable seeing as scoring is his main objective. But you can't ignore the team play he puts in.

I've seen people on this forum compare Torres number of goals to various other players. Then when his team contribution argument is bust out, the same people have said to ignore these points as he's and out and out striker and so it's the goals that matter. You cant exactly ignore his team play and assists but then not discount the goals he assisted, if that's the argument to be used against him.

I don't defend him because I really love him or anything, I do so because it wouldn't matter who we had in his position right now, none of them would be doing much better. As it goes, he is putting in good team performances, and it's the results of the team that matter.

[tmessy 139]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2092924/Chelsea-striker-Fernando-Torres-looking-50m-last.html

[HRiver 1,512]

I won't defend him anymore, it's so depressing watching him every time he has the ball on his feet. So far he has been one of the worst transfers in the history of the sport and he will never be able to overturn this major disappointment that he has caused to millions of fans around the world. Not this season anyway, and in all likelihood it will be his last in the Chelsea shirt.

[capriccioso 2,545]

He'll never justify his transfer fee. I think, for 50 million, you should be getting a 30 goal per season player and I can't see Torres ever getting much more than half of that in a Blue shirt.

[Ollie 4,400]

No matter what coulda been or how hard he tried or how unlucky he's been or how well he played without scoring or 'he's getting there' or whatever.....

The first year has been a catastrophic disaster of monumental proportions.

Hopefully he can end it on a high by knocking QPR out the FA Cup this afternoon and maybe bagging the winner on Tuesday too but the harsh reality is that he probably wont score in either. If he doesn't sort himself out, we'll struggle for top 4, if he does sort himself out, we'll get there easily.

Had to stop watching his goals for Liverpool video after 3 minutes because i was gonna smash something or slit my wrists.

The 1 stat that matters is 1 year, 4 goals. Tells you everything you need to know.

[Joker10 946]

Yay! another Torres thread.

tbf this is the best Torres article/thread.

Depressing. Really depressing. When we signed him I had such high expectations, it must have been one of my happiest moments as a football fan, that transfer deadline day, I still remember the entire day so clearly, getting all of these updates from friends, checking the Sky Sports website, hearing stories that the deal was off, hearing that it was on ect. When we finally got him it brought an emotion of near euphoria but then he stepped onto the pitch and that euphoria has just dripped away to the point where now, 12 months on, I've gone from euphoric to feeling downright depressed whenever I see him on the pitch in a Chelsea jersey. Depressed at how poorly he plays, depressed that our club wasted so much money on him, depressed for the player himself who must have had such high expectations when he came to Chelsea of finally winning trophies at club level, its become a pretty horrible experience, watching him play, willing him to score, hoping against hope that he will recapture those glory days but knowing deep down that it will never happen, that his best days are behind him and what we are left with is a shadow of the force that powered Spain to Euro 2008 victory.

For me i wasn't really excited over the Torres signing, because i was considering the opportunity cost. Aguero should've been signed.

I really don't consider Torres past his best, i saw it from the beginning that he would struggle in our playing style, but obviously not to this degree. I truly still believe if he was still with Liverpool or another counter attacking team he would still be considered one of the best striker in the world.

I keep seeing arguments about how Torres isn't used to our style of play, but I don't think that's a valid excuse at all. The team shouldn't revolve around Torres, and in fact, it's the player who needs to fit in with the rest of the team. We can't afford to change the whole team so that he can perform better. And quite frankly, even if we brought players like Gerrard, Alonso and Kuyt, he would still be shit. It's not like his ex-teammates had this powerful aura or whatever that guided Torres' shots goalward or that one of his current teammates is a practitioner of dark magic that prevents him from scoring. It's simple: Torres can't score (and plays shit in general) because he is a significantly worse player than he used to be, and I don't think he'll improve much from here.

If you are going to invest 50m on one player, then at that point you should try to accommodate to his playing style.

[capriccioso 2,545]

The only real proof we can get that he's on the decline is by looking at his performances physically, because I think a player simply can't lose his technical ability at such a young age. Is he still as quick as he was? Is he still as agile as he was?

Until those questions can be answered without any doubt, all we can do is speculate as to how good he will be in the future.

[Blue Armour 4,312]

The only real proof we can get that he's on the decline is by looking at his performances physically, because I think a player simply can't lose his technical ability at such a young age. Is he still as quick as he was? Is he still as agile as he was?

Until those questions can be answered without any doubt, all we can do is speculate as to how good he will be in the future.

Clearly, not.

[tmessy 139]

great vid...

[manpe 10,861]

This video is crap for the following reasons

a) lack of quality content

b ) overdone and overused effects

c) it has "return of El Nino" in its title

[Badboy 1,526]

He's been a complete waste of money up to now. We should of signed 2 younger hungry strikers for 25 million each !

[Blue Armour 4,312]

He's been a complete waste of money up to now. We should of signed 2 younger hungry strikers for 25 million each !

This.

[cujo101 75]

£25m? We could of bought two hungry young strikers for £2.5 million that are better than that shadow...

[reLo 10]

What I think about his first year?

Very simple answer: He didn't show anything. Maybe Liverpool made him some woodo magic so he can't score. But, he is still better than Caroll.

[cujo101 75]

Send him to Swansea - strangely enough I believe he would turn into a goalpig there.